Test rider puts life and limb at risk in the name of science

Two full suspension Walmart mountain bikes were purchased for this endeavor.

Bling bikes are often too expensive these days, while department store bikes seem too cheap to tackle a real mountain bike trail. In the name of science, Seth’s Bike Hacks bought two $149 bikes and took them down a real trail in Asheville, North Carolina. Will the bikes survive? Will Seth survive? Press play to find out.

This is very reminiscent of the time Phil Kmetz took a Walmart bike to the bike park for a day.

Do you have tales of taking POS bikes on real MTB rides? Enlighten us in the comments section below.

Photo Thumbnails (click to enlarge)

Two full suspension Walmart mountain bikes were purchased for this endeavor.

The founder of mtbr and roadbikereview, Francis Cebedo believes that every cyclist has a lot to teach and a lot to learn. "Our websites are communal hubs for sharing cycling experiences, trading adventure stories, and passing along product information and opinions." Francis' favorite bike is the last bike he rode, whether it's a dirt jumper, singlespeed, trail bike, lugged commuter or ultralight carbon road steed. Indeed, Francis loves cycling in all its forms and is happiest when infecting others with that same passion. Francis also believes that IPA will save America.

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Instead of a Walmart bike, how about testing a Sports Store bike (think Novara) in the 500-600$ range vs a big brand bike (think Specialized hard rock/rockhopper) for about the same spec/price. How do these hold up to real trail abuse? What, if any, performance/durability advantage does the big brand bike have?

I’m not sure I get the point of the test. I don’t hear many mountain bikers who argue that cheapo bikes will do the trick. And the Walmarts of the world aren’t touting that their bikes can do it all. The sticker says “no mountain bike trails”, as you say.
Spend $400 – $700 to for trails and it’s sufficient for most people. Spend more if you’re going all out.

My Huffy TR-745 aluminum 27.5″ hardtail from WalMart didn’t come with any “no mountainbiking” warnings on it, and had the same sort of deficient Suntour fork that even some costlier bikes come with.
It has provided lots of reliable, cheap thrills, but the bike is heavy, the bb spindle lacked hardening and the fork and brakes proved to be fussy and distracting. At the on-sale price it has been money well spent imo, because their one frame size fits me and I don’t beat too hard on it.